It might be easy to forget that Apple still makes Macs. The only model that’s been updated since the launch of the iPhone 4S is the MacBook Pro, and we’ve seen two iPad models since the Mac Pro’s last refresh–but that’s about to change. Accordin…

Intel announced a 32nm Core i7-980X processor codenamed "Gulftown" this
week, sparking rumors of the new chip potentially making its way into a
new Mac Pro.

The new processor features a speed of 3.33GHz, six cores capable of 12 threads, 12MB of L3 cache, and 130W power.

This particular processor inside of a Mac Pro has been rumored for months, but now it is believed that the Mac Pro could be updated as soon as next week and feature two of these processors for a total of 12 cores.

The Gulftown processor is set to be released sometime later this month and will be sold under the Core i9 name, with the server version under the Xeon 5600 series title.

Apple’s new iPad may not be the only product launch come March, if a recent rumor about new Mac Pros is to be believed.

AppleInsider is reporting that “multiple sources” have relayed to Hardmac this week news that the Mac Pro may be getting a serious speed bump “in a matter of weeks,” courtesy of Intel’s latest and greatest, the Core i7-980X and Core i7-970 six-core processors. The latest partnership between Apple and Intel is expected to (ahem) bear fruit as early as March.

“So, if Apple and Intel are still engaged in a tight partnership,” the Hardmac report reads, “Apple might have the exclusivity of such CPU *as the Nehalem Xeon) for a couple of days or weeks. So, if you are waiting for [a] new Mac Pro to change your current model or purchase your first Mac Pro, then get ready after the second half of February, it should come within the next three weeks.”

Of course, such news is hardly a revelation — the last two revisions of the Mac Pro were also the first to market with their respective Intel chips, as AppleInsider notes. Hardmac also speculates that the new hardware will be based on the Mac-edition Radeon HD 5870 graphics cards as well.

Rumors have swirled for months about a Mac Pro based upon Intel’s Core i7 980X, also known as the “Gulftown” architecture. With a 32nm processor and a clock speed of 3.33GHz, the chip is the first dual-socket, six-core processor from Intel, and has been widely expected to make a splash on the market in March.

The current generation of Mac Pro unveiled in March of this year just got quietly bumped up with a new build-to-order option.

When introduced this past spring, the 2009 model Mac Pro was the first to feature Intel’s latest Xeon Nehalem processors, before they had even been officially announced. Today, the processor received an unannounced spec bump as a build-to-order option, according to MacRumors.

Intel’s Nehalem features four processor cores on a single chip. The base-model Mac Pro features a base quad-core 2.66 GHz processor, with a 2.93 GHz option available for an additional $400. The build-to-order option that appeared today brings the speed up to a roaring 3.33 GHz for an additional $1,200.

Customers will also be given the build-to-order option of loading up their system with 2 TB hard drives, bumped from the 1 TB drives previously available. That option expands the total internal hard drive capacity of the Mac Pro to a whopping 8 TB. The Mac Pro features four internal hard drive bays, and each 2 TB drive is priced at $550.

Apple wasn’t content to only update the Mac Pro. They also quietly slipped in some new configurable options for the Xserve rack-mountable server, which also now offers 2 TB hard drives for a total capacity of 6 TB. 4 GB RAM modules are also available, doubling the memory capacity of the quad-core Xserve to 24 GB and the 8-core Xserve to a mammoth 48 GB.